The first anniversary of the coalition government has been and gone, and – like its members, no doubt – we have no clear idea of what its future will be. The various elections that accompanied the anniversary didn’t help. By general consent the Lib Dems had most to worry about after . . .

Dissecting demands for an EU referendum.

"The No-To-AV campaign leaflet is quite the most hateful document I have ever read, and I speak as one who has made a special study of the works of Dave Sim, and once read the Daily Express every day for a month."

"Melissa Kite in the Daily Telegraph has been doing that other thing the No side have been engaged in for weeks now, deliberately shutting down their brain functions and going on about how complicated it all is... By her own words, it took Melissa an hour to count eight votes. I’ll say no more on the subject."

"I, for one, am fed up with following behind with the bucket. I think it's time for women to reclaim our history, so I am really excited about Women's History Month."

The strategy behind is clear. The right wing of the Conservatives believe that Cameron threw away victory at the last election, and if the coalition collapses, the right will take over, with a pledge for a referendum on EU membership and win the next election.Because of this, honest and rigorous political debate loses out to deception and deceit.

"our legislators seem to have no understanding of the principles of the rule of law and democracy that require that minorities should have judicial protection against the will of the majority as expressed through the legislature."

Professor Miller said that such a reform would do no more than to bring the UK into line with countries including Canada, Australia, France, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and many others. He added that the UK Government could and should have resolved this issue several years ago. In being allowed by the European Court of Human Rights a further…

What I do know is that a society that makes a virtue of illiberal behaviour will treat its citizens illiberally; a culture that demands injustice in the name of common sense will perpetrate injustices.  I know that a citizenry that puts all of its faith in infantile concepts like force and "common sense" will receive plenty of the former…

...human rights for all kinds of groups across Europe have been improved thanks to the work of the European Court of Human Rights. The question would better be “Do you want human rights cases to be judged only in the UK, knowing this would endanger the human rights of other Europeans - including gay rights, the rights of women, the rights of minor…

The ECHR is very far from perfect. But a country lucky enough to enjoy the rule of law, like Britain, should think long and hard before flouting international treaties which offer perhaps the only hope of legal recourse to people in much less lucky climes. Above all (and with apologies for a very long posting) though prisons are full of nasty peop…

"Cameron clearly does not understand that identity politics in the UK are often divisive and politically unrewarding. Such speeches may be grounded in genuine concern about social cohesion and the potential of violent extremism. But they often merely feed bigotry for those who seek to conflate extremist Islam and Islam as a religion...His lin…

David Cameron’s Munich speech urges “a clear sense of shared national identity that is open to everyone” (however toxic its undertones, as Stuart Weir has discussed). So why has his government more than halved funding for the Refugee Council’s vital advice services to asylum seekers?

The difference between Cameron and Baroness Warsi on the Muslim question is striking.  She knows what she is talking about. He doesn’t.

"How have the Wilkinsons achieved virtual martyrdom status in UK conservative evangelical circles in the space of about 12 hours since Archbishop Cranmer reheated the story? Either they are as naive as they are projecting, or alternatively they knew the law, knowingly broke the law, and have little to complain about if they are then subject t…

A long piece, with fascinating diversion into Bill Cash's revolutionary theory of the British constitution.

"FPTP fails on its own terms"

The UK, as most of us know, is a net contributor to the EU budget. Therefore it’s understandable that people in this country want to learn more about how we benefit from our collective contribution. On this website you can find out how the EU helps with: * Moving around Europe freely and safely* Giving UK consumers a fair deal* Making our food and…

"Contribute your views to our consultation into how we can best reduce the number of students who can come to the UK." An appalling pretence at public consultation with the most biased online survey I have ever seen.

"only one black Briton of Caribbean descent was accepted for undergraduate study at Oxford last year... One Oxford college, Merton, has admitted no black students in five years ... at Newnham, an all-women's [Cambridge] college, ... black applicants had a 13% success rate compared with 67% for white students"

Bizarre law that human bones - whatever the provenance - must be reburied after two years is apparently being enforced.

Good luck to them. I've argued previously that electing the Lords is not the answer: http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1305569.html

Achilles and the Tortoise discuss Gini coefficients and New Labour's record

A bizarre story, essentially of a council electoral office going too far and then hoping nobody much will notice.

provocative thoughts on constitutional reform

More on Attlee - the case for the defence

New Labour's centralising instincts are not new